Former Pitt running back Shell transfers to WVU

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- If this keeps up, Dana Holgorsen's reputation as a pass-happy football coach is going to have to be re-evaluated.

West Virginia on Friday received its second high-profile running back transfer this summer. This time, it is former Pitt running back Rushel Shell, Pennsylvania's all-time high school rushing leader.

Shell told ESPN.com that he had decided on the Mountaineers. He had also considered Kentucky and Ohio State.

He will have to sit out the 2013 season as a transfer but then will have three years of eligibility remaining.

"Things went really well down at WVU,'' Shell told ESPN.com. "I enjoyed every moment of it. We toured the campus and facilities and I got a chance to hang out with other recruits and players on the team.

"They made my visit terrific and made me feel like family.''

Shell is the second highly regarded running back to transfer to WVU this summer. Charles Sims, who graduated at Houston with a year of eligibility remaining, is currently enrolled in school and eligible to play this season.

The Mountaineers could also potentially have a starting quarterback this season who transferred this summer. Clint Trickett, who graduated at Florida State, is enrolled and eligible for two years.

Last year as a true freshman at Pitt, Shell was the Panthers' second-leading rusher behind Ray Graham. But he left Pitt in April and said he planned to transfer to UCLA. But he never enrolled and later asked Pitt if he could return. Coach Paul Chryst would not take him back.

Shell said he had made a mistake and wanted to remain in the area to be close to his twin daughters.

WVU had recruited Shell out of high school when he set the Pennsylvania state rushing record of 9,078 yards at Hopewell in Aliquippa.